The Good, The Bad & The Ugly. Born of the Traditions of the Old West, the Heritage Rough Rider maintains much of the look and feel of the legendary Single Action Army revolver-- only in a scaled down version.The Rough Rider revolvers are styled after the Colt 1873 SAA and look almost identical to the Colt Frontier Scout .22 rimfire that was made from 1958-1971.

First the good. The Heritage Rough Rider Bird's Head is a convertible revolver that includes both .22LR and .22 Magnum cylinders that readily interchange. It is manufactured using state of the art precision machinery that assures its accuracy and reliability and the gun has a lightweight aluminum cast alloy frame that is sufficiently strong to handle high volume rimfire shooting. The cylinder lock-up is tightand precise.

When combined with the tight timing of the action, it makes for a surprisingly accurate handgun. Also greatly contributing to the accuracy of the revolver is a crisp and consistent trigger pull. The bird's head frame is a throwback to the original Colt and has an excellent feel, allowing the shooter to point the gun and thumb cock more naturally.

While the Heritage Rough Rider Bird's Head may not exactly be a Ruger Single Six, it also sells for less than half the price and will provide many years of reliable service out in the field. It is also makes the ideal affordable back-up gun to take along on a fishing trip, while hiking or in the back woods where a trails gun often come in handy.

Perhaps the most unique feature on this little gun is its manual thumb safety. This acts as a hammer block and is located in the recoil shield to provide an extra measure of protection. A red dot indicatorthat lets you know when the gun is ready to fire. When activated, the safety interposes a steel block between the hammer face and the firing pin.

Now for the bad-- EXTREME CAUTION IS ADVISED! The Rough Rider revolver functions much like other old school Single Action six-guns and when you thumb back the hammer, you get four, distinct “clicks” going back to full-cock.Although the gun has a frame mounted firing pin, it is not of the inertia variety, so always keep an empty chamber under the hammer.

As with every firearm, great care should be observed when handling the Rough Rider and the shooter should understand the limitations of the design. Though the thumb safety is a comforting feature, the gun lacks a transfer bar firing pin safety such as the one found on the Ruger Single Six.

Much like the original Colt Single Action Army, when the hammer is all the way forward and not in its half-cock position and safety disengaged, the firing pin actually protrudes through breech face-- thus the recommendation to leave an empty chamber under the hammer when not in use. Similarly, even with the thumb safety engaged, the gun could discharge if dropped and struck hard enough.

The trigger pull has little creep and pull weight runs about 6 pounds; it is wider than the triggers found on previous Heritage models. Sights are of the fixed variety. The 3-3/4" machined barrel on the Heritage Rough Rider Bird's Head is micro-threaded and inserted into the frame for the optimal barrel / cylinder gap to give you maximum ammunition performance.

A new authentic looking flat-sided hammer paired with new exotic Cocobolo grips, makes this Rough Riderboth functional and handsome. This model includes a single 6- shot cylinder chambered for .22LR.

Loading or unloading is fairly straightforward. The loading gate swings open and ejector rod pushes out empty brass easily. For dissassembly and cleaning, the base pin lock depresses and the base pin slides out to drop the cylinder free of the frame.

Finally, the ugly. This gun wears one of the worst finishes in the history of truly gad gun finishes. It literally looks like someone took it out back and used a can of Krylon. While crude, there have really been no complaints concerning the overall "blued" finish of the Heritage Rough Rider.

For service or repair, the revolver is backed by a manufacturers 1- year warranty. Overall, the Heritage Rough Rider Bird's Head is an affordable, reliable, accurate and an extremely enjoyable plinking handgun made here in the U.S.A.

Established in 1993, Champion Firearms is a retail gun store and indoor range located in College Station, Texas.